South Korea starts pulling mines from DMZ, but will the North to do same?
The process is part of tension-easing deals both countries’ defence chiefs struck on the sidelines of a leaders’ summit last month in Pyongyang
South Korea began clearing mines from two sites inside the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday under tension-reducing agreements reached this year. Seoul says North Korea is expected to do the same.
The development comes amid renewed international diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme after weeks of stalemated negotiations. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Pyongyang this month to try to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
South Korean troops entered the demilitarised zone on Monday morning to remove mines around the border village of Panmunjom and another frontline area where the rivals plan their first joint searches with North Korea for soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean war, according to Seoul’s Defence Ministry.
The South Korean troops will try to focus on taking out mines on the southern parts of Panmunjom’s Joint Security Area and the so-called Arrow Head Hill, where one of the fiercest battles during the Korean war happened. Seoul officials believe the remains of about 300 South Korean and UN forces are in the Arrow Head Hill and likely many Chinese and North Korean remains too.
South Korean Defence Ministry officials said they could not immediately confirm whether North Korea also began demining on the northern parts of the two sites. But they said they expected the North to abide by the tension-easing deals their defence chiefs struck on the sidelines of their leaders’ summit last month in Pyongyang.